Lahm Speaks Up On Homophobia In Professional Football

The articlepublished by Focus Online puts an emphasis on Lahm and his opinion on homosexuality in professional football. That makes me wonder: didn’t they got the message the first time? I mean, how many times will Lahm have to explain his point of view? Perhaps, I am being too critical of the media. Perhaps. At least I have to give props to the author for mentioning Lahm’s work towards tolerance.

However, the one thing that I still do not understand is the following: why do they keep insisting on him “advising” homosexual players? He has already explained it in multiple interviews and in his book. As far as I understand, it is not advising. It is simply stating the facts, according to which each individual has to make his/her own decision.

The player of the National Team, Philipp Lahm, urged homosexual football players to be cautious. The crowd in the stadium is not ready to tolerate homosexual players.

The captain of the German National Team, Philipp Lahm, has advised gay professional players to restrain. “I don’t think that the society has come so far as to accept matter-of-factly professional football players who are gay, as it is possible in other domains,” says Lahm in the interview to Frankfurter Rundschau.

A different social climate still reins in football. “In the stadium, things are rarely politically correct,” says Lahm. “Sure, politicians can come out, but they don’t have to play in front of 60, 000 people week after week and then it can get only worse. “

Lahm has been committed to working against homophobia for a long time

The 28-year-old Bayern player has been repeatedly exposed to rumors about his homosexuality, which he has continually denied. Regardless of that, he has always been committed to work against homophobia in professional football. Discussing the matter, he told Frankfurter Rundschau, “If you google my name, the second or third possibility that will pop up is ‘Philipp Lahm gay’. What should one do?’ “

(my translation)

Now that I think about it, I guess it is worth repeating after all. The more one repeats something, hopefully the more it gets stuck in people’s minds. In the end, this might be the right way to approach the issue. At the same time, it upsets me that the situation has not changed much. The first time Lahm spoke about the issue was in 2007, if I am not mistaken. It has been almost five years since then. I think the change has to come first at an individual and, eventually, societal level. Perhaps, only then we will be able to deal with it in professional football.